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Bluegrass wedding on the beach: Danny Stewart and Ashley Wiese

Everybody loves a wedding, and what could be better than a bluegrass wedding on the beach?

That is just what Danny Stewart and Ashley Wiese had last week when they tied the knot in Florida after spending a week at sea on his father’s annual bluegrass cruise. Danny plays bass with the Larry Stephenson Band, and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the ETSU Bluegrass Old Time, and Country Music program, from which he recently graduated.

Ashley is also an ETSU alumna, and while she did not graduate from the bluegrass program, she took classes there and played in their ensembles. She is a true-blue grasser, and a fine musician and singer.

Danny sent along this recap of their big day, along with some photos.

“The wedding was the most perfect day ever filled with love, laughter, and lots of great music.

Ashley and I got married in Cocoa Beach, FL right along the ocean with an audience filled with great friends and family who traveled all across the country to be with us on our special day.

It was amazing to see the amount of musicians who were there! During the wedding ceremony, right before we exchanged our vows, Ashley surprised me and sang That’s the Way Love Goes with Coleman Smith on fiddle, Preston Schmidt on Fiddle, and Mark Morris on guitar, wow…..it was AMAZING!

For the reception, we had our friends and family play for us; it was the best wedding band we could ask for! Larry sang May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You for our first dance, followed by I’ll Be Loving You Always, another one of our favorites to hear him sing.

The rest of the night consisted of impromptu groups sharing their special songs, featuring Raymond McLain, Coleman Smith, Mark Morris, Tony Collins, Wally Yoder, and several students (past and present) of the ETSU Bluegrass Old Time, and Country Music program including Colby Laney, Preston Schmidt, Jamie Collins, Carla Diller, Jeff Ingersoll, Carter Giegerich, and Alexandra Frank.

Ashley and I both come from musical families and it was a pleasure to play and sing with them to celebrate the evening, along with my dad, Danny Stewart Sr., my great uncle George Campanile, my sister Justine Stewart; Ashley’s mom and dad, Jill and Bob Wiese, and sister Kayla Wiese. We are blessed to have amazing friends and family who all made our day so special.

We felt honored by the amount of people who traveled across the world to share the day with us and are so excited to begin our new chapter in life.”

The two met in 2007 while students at ETSU, with Stewart coming from Pennsylvania and Wiese from North Dakota. They will reside in Johnson City, TN.

About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.